


When the Twilight Fades

by Dragon_of_Dreams



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Comfort/Angst, Gen, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Missing Redheads, Past Relationship(s), Self-Doubt, The Boys Need Therapy, Twilight Regrets Everything
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:00:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26202310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragon_of_Dreams/pseuds/Dragon_of_Dreams
Summary: Twilight wishes to forget everything like Wild--get rid of the heartache plaguing him at the hour where his world meets theirs. But one night he snaps and everything crashes down. With brothers hurt and loses being brought up, Twilight has to make amends.
Relationships: Legend & Twilight (Linked Universe), Link/Marin (Legend of Zelda) - Mentioned, Link/Midna (Legend of Zelda) - Mentioned, Twilight & Wild (Linked Universe)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 61





	When the Twilight Fades

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SilverDragonMS](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverDragonMS/gifts).



> Prompt originally from SilverDragonMS. I hope you enjoy it.

The flames devoured everything that granted it: the hardened wood that gave its life, the journals that extended such life, and the memories that brought it light from the shadows.

Twilight skimmed through another book—another journal depicting his adventure from long ago. A journey that should have long faded from his memory, but the scars remained eternal in his heart. He snapped the book shut, and tossed it into the flame. Another memory consumed.

But the flame burned brighter, highlighting the hour of twilight imposed upon them. The hour of sadness that Twilight desired to forget, but it was as permanent as the living days, and as the name he imposed upon himself.

A sigh. Fiery red hair as warm as the flame lingered upon his vision. He rubbed his eyes, trying to erase the image from his mind. _Why can’t I stop thinking about you?_

He lowered his hand, feeling the shadow of a presence approaching his back. A hand, as soft and slowly as he could muster, gripped his shoulder. Twilight faced the marks and scar of the old man beside him.

“How are you feeling, pup?”

Twilight smiled. “Better, thank you. Sometimes you need to learn to let things go, you know?”

Time nodded, but such agreement wouldn’t always come to fruition. Twilight watched him walked away. His armor, now as bright and shiny as the morning sun, would eventually fade into the dull earth: tarnished and covered in vines, trapping it into an eternal slumber of darkness. Regret. Because his heart couldn’t move on.

Twilight’s hand hovered over the necklace of the shadow crystal, contemplating as to burn it away just like the rest, as a remaining evidence of his journey. But it was too useful, he thought. It left him a permanent mark, weighed like the chain clasped tight in his wrist in his wolf form. He still felt it as a human—an invisible weight trapping him in the ways of light and shadow.

His hand lowered. He couldn’t. Not Yet. Not when others needed him. His glance fell on the wild child, who was now happily conversing with the traveler. But that happiness would soon fade as the terrors of the night crawl once again into the minds of the heroes. The shadow of his wolf form would bring them back to light, but the night would delve into his mind instead.

The hour of twilight served as a warning. And he ignored it.

Twilight searched for his pouch once more. He needed another item. He needed something to extend the light and delay the dark away. _Just one more,_ he thought. _One more journal._

He kept digging until he pulled out a piece of paper wrapped around an object. He unfolded it, revealing Renado’s letter about Ilia’s memory... and the horse call that accompanied it. He grasped the horse call, eyes lingering on the precious gift given to him.

“You’re not planning to burn that, are you?”

Wild's worried glance met him. Twilight tossed the horse call, and watched it melt like burnt candle. Burned away like the forgotten pasts.

He heard Wild’s gasp, shifting to his side when Twilight spoke, “What’s the point?”

Wild froze, a hand hovering over his arm. “What do you—”

“What’s the point of keeping things knowing you’d never come back?” Twilight huffed, pulling his hair in frustration. “How do you do it, Wild? Why do you keep things from your past?”

Wild grasped his arm, forcing Twilight to meet his eyes. Eyes of a champion whose own past was erased, hidden in the clouds of his mind. Darkness that clouded the twilight away into the night.

And Twilight shut the light away from his eyes. “I’m not sure how you do it!” he snapped. “It’s my fault I lost Midna! I wish I could forget everything like you!”

Twilight pulled himself away from Wild. From the others. Towards the shadows of the woods covering the falling sky. He stumbled upon the bushes and the branches. But he didn’t care. He was falling. Falling like the fading sun. Only his hands and knees supported him against the void that was the earth.

Drops of the heavens landed by his hands. No. Not from the heavens. Why would a shadowy being like him belong there?

Twilight picked himself up from the ground and leaned against the tree beside him. He punched it, letting his tears fall from his face. _Selfish!_ his mind cried. _Selfish selfish selfish! No one should have seen me like that!_

He buried his face under his arm, rubbing his tears away. He wished he could run away, hide and cower in the shadows forever. But he didn’t have the heart to do that, not when soft footsteps lingered behind him, following him.

“I’m jealous of you, Wild,” Twilight said. “I wish I could forget my past and pretend none of this happened.”

“Sometimes I wish I could forget too.”

His body froze. That hadn’t been Wild’s soft voice answering him. Bitterness spoke instead. He turned around, recognizing the red tunic of the veteran. Legend. He had his arms crossed, icy blue eyes looking down to the ground as he continued speaking:

“I lost someone too.”

Twilight remained silent. Legend, too, followed, turning his heel and headed back to the camp.

“Legend, where—”

Legend paused. “I have said enough.” His hands gripped his arms tighter, Twilight noticed, clawing at his skin. “I just thought that you might needed to hear that. You’re not alone in this.”

_You’re not alone in this._

Twilight sighed, watching as the veteran vanished. Just like the hour of twilight. He kept watching as the night caught up in the woods, swallowing the remaining sunlight. Gone. Shattered.

It took a few moments of darkness before he sought the comfort of the shadow crystal, transforming him into the divine beast that was his wolf form. Twilight then followed the veteran’s scent straight to the campsite.

The silence consumed whatever remaining life that was in the camp, except for the lingering embers fighting for brightness anew. The voices of the other heroes, however, remained shut. Hyrule and Time comforted Wild, whose blank stare lingered towards the dying flame.

A step towards the champion and Twilight flinched at the glare of disappointment shot at him by his mentor. Time’s narrowed eye and tightened lips spoke volumes of Twilight’s failure as a hero—of keeping himself in check when others needed him more.

With his ears drawn back and tail between his legs, Twilight walked away, finding himself a spot far at the edge of the camp, away from the other heroes as darkness welcomed him in solace. He lay his head down, ears occasionally twitching at the whispers that resounded over the camp.

Twilight shut his eyes. It wasn’t like anyone needed him anyway. They got each other. He got no one.

Yet, Twilight couldn’t sleep. Legend took the first watch of the night, staring at the embers as they faded away into smoke while everyone else fell into a tensed sleep. One thing keeping Twilight alert were the whispers lingering in the air from Legend’s own lips, soft as the air brushing through his fur.

Twilight wanted to listen, to learn more about what was running through the veteran’s mind and find a way to calm him down. But he didn’t want to pry—those few words Legend had uttered to him must’ve weighed him down. To open up such revelation... Twilight couldn’t imagine on his own terms.

Only when Legend looked up towards the sky did his voice crack, loud enough for Twilight’s enhanced hearing to make it out the broken words: “Marin, I miss you.”

Twilight whined. Legend whirled around at the noise, eyes widening as his tearful eyes locked contact with his.

“You have been listening, haven’t you?” Legend asked. “Go back to sleep. Go sleep with Wild if you need to.”

Twilight said nothing.

Legend groaned, turning his back on him as he stood up from the ground. “I’ll scout the area for monsters. Don’t follow me, you might need to alert the others.”

Legend then walked away. Steps slow and heavy, dragged by the unshed tears the wolf knew remained in his heart.

A long moment of silence followed. Twilight thought of standing up and follow the scent trail the veteran left behind. But then he heard it: a soft melody whispering in the air, sung by a sorrowful, haunted voice.

Twilight’s ears dropped as he lay his head down. _I should apologize,_ he thought, another whine escaping under his throat. His eyes weighed under his eyelids as he drifted off into the night, the song calming his mind towards a silent dream. _First thing come morning.  
_

* * *

The night had been calm. It was as if the terrors were basked away into the sunrise as they spared the heroes, leaving everyone with some wink of sleep for once. So Twilight thought when he opened his eyes, bathing in the sunlight when the night faded away. He stood up and sought his way out of the camp, far enough where the bushes concealed his form from prying eyes, and let the light wash away his shadowed form.

Twilight, the human rancher and hero, now stood on his feet. He took a deep breath, trying to gather his own courage as he faced back the camp.

 _Just apologize,_ he thought. _Just apologize when everyone’s awake._ _You didn’t mean it._

…Didn’t he?

His steps weighed down to the earth as he pushed himself towards the camp, heart racing as his eyes flashed to the events of the night before— of the disappointed faces glaring back at him. Yet within the confines of the camp, Twilight found Wild already by his cooking pot humming along, preparing the breakfast for the group. Everyone else awake sat down on their spots, talking among themselves until they noticed the newcomer’s steps. Only the veteran lay missing, perhaps doing a morning patrol.

Twilight ignored the worrying glances aimed towards him, pressing the questions that lingered behind him last night. Yet the awakened heroes didn’t voice their concerns directly, as they seldom did when secrets were involved. Only Wind’s whisper did catch his attention, directed not at him, but at the captain beside him.

“Why did Time get mad at Wolfie last night?” Wind asked, sitting down on a log along who he considered his older brother. “He did nothing wrong, did he?”

Warriors just shrugged, but his eyes darted towards Twilight. The ranch hand fought the urge to flinch, but behind those calculated eyes hid an array of hidden knowledge. Twilight gulped. _Does he know?_

“Twilight, have you seen Legend?”

Twilight found himself a few feet away from Wild who still had his glance at the pot, turning the steaming meat and mushrooms. The captain’s glare now at its full strength as Twilight locked eyes with his.

“Pardon?”

“He disappeared last night,” Warriors replied. “I figured you might know something.”

“He… hasn’t returned?” Twilight let out a frown. It was unusual for the veteran to disappear, he thought. Legend wasn’t like Wild and Hyrule, who tended to disappear into the wilderness without a moment’s notice. “I’ll go look for him,” Twilight declared. _It’s my fault._

He turned on his heel and ran, ignoring the yells of the others calling for him. He pushed into the bushes, back towards the woods where he let his senses carry him, scanning the area for his missing comrade.

He had to leave a trace. Twilight ran through the ground for footprints, the branches for any marks, anything. He ripped the woods apart, yet he couldn’t see... he couldn’t find a trace.

“Twilight! Stop!”

A hand gripped his arm. Twilight swung around, punching back his assaulter before realizing his mistake. A gasp escaped him as the captain stumbled back, covering his injured eye.

“I guess I deserved that,” Warriors muttered. He straightened himself up, still holding a hand to his face. “But Twilight, seriously, you need to calm down.”

It was then when Twilight realized how fast he was panting, his heart pounding through his chest. His eyes flickered to the others behind the captain. Hyrule. And Sky—whose gasping of breath mirrored his own.

Twilight growled. “Why are you all here?”

“We want to help find Legend,” Hyrule replied.

“But we needed to stop you before you do something stupid,” Warriors added.

“Are you taking me for Wild?”

“Nope, but last thing we need is you losing your head.”

Twilight kept growling. He didn’t have time for this! But another firm grasp kept him chained, forcing him to look into the blackened eye of his comrade.

“I’m sorry,” Twilight said, shutting his eyes. _I’m a monster._

“Don’t apologize yet, we have a brother to find.”

Twilight nodded, his breath calming before the grip on him was finally released.

With a nod, Warriors turned back to Hyrule and Sky. “Search east,” he told them. “Twilight and I will look west. Meet us back at the camp in an hour. Understood?”

After another nod from everyone Warriors led on, with Twilight following beside him as the trees sought them. Their branches reached out for their presence, yet frozen still for eternity without winds to guide them.

“The guilt has been eating you for this long huh.”

Twilight nodded, finding himself glancing up at the shadowed canopy that casted away the sun, far away from the captain’s glance.

“Don’t let yourself fall into the darkness,” Warriors continued. “Trust me. I know how that feels.”

“You say that as if I haven’t already.”

Twilight kept walking, not noticing Warriors had suddenly stopped until the lack of his presence became apparent, soft as the empty air. Turning back, Twilight found himself staring at the captain’s eye. A frown curled on his own mouth.

“Captain?”

Warriors shook his head. “Twilight, stop doing that to yourself. If you keep pushing everyone—“

Twilight stared at him, closely observed his expression. For the first time he had noticed the cracks in the mask that Warriors had so carefully held for everyone. Warriors, even as he kept speaking, let his voice waver before picking back to his firm voice of a leader. As if nothing had happened.

There was a reason why Twilight didn’t view himself as one. He’d shatter faster than the mirror leading to his former friend and partner to disappear, and shatter he did.

“Twilight, are you listening?”

Twilight walked away. No, he wasn’t. And whatever words that came out of Warriors’s mouth were unneeded in this dire hour. They needed to find Legend not... not wasting time like this. He’d be fine. He could hold himself, even if he imagined everyone scolding him when they all returned back to safety.

But Legend... There was no guarantee.

“How would Midna feel if she found you like this?”

His entire being jolted at the name. “It doesn’t matter,” Twilight snarled. He picked up his pace as the footsteps were catching up to him, buying himself some distance from Warriors. “She’s not here anymore. It’s not like you knew her.”

“But I did.”

Twilight stumbled, crashing down at the words that rang through his ears. “Pardon?” he asked Warriors, straining his hearing. He had to have misheard it, _right?_

“I knew her. Midna, the Twilight Princess. Sass of a lady too.”

Twilight stared at Warriors, leaving his mouth gapping as the captain’s words registered. “H-How?”

“I know more than you do.” Warriors smirked. “This isn’t the first time I had to deal with weird portals. But let’s worry about that later, we got more pressing matters.”

 _Right_. He followed Warriors, who now walked ahead of him of the trail.

Their steps crushed the leaves beneath them, alerting their presence to creatures lurking nearby. Twilight strained his hearing to hear for the slightest sound, any shuffling of the bushes and trees and then observe them, for monsters could be waiting for an ambush.

“I hope Legend isn’t in trouble,” he muttered.

“Me too,” Warriors replied, quickening to a brisk pace. “We have to hurry. We don’t know how long he has been gone.”

 _And I hope he isn’t hurt,_ Twilight thought somberly, matching the captain’s pace.

The two heroes scanned the area around them. Twilight tried to look for any trace of the missing hero, even so far looking down at ground for any footprints. Nothing. All he could see were various marks of animals. Birds... deer... some unrecognizable but distinctly non-human. “I don’t think Legend has gone through here,” he remarked.

Warriors turned around and frowned. “We should go back then. Let’s see if Sky and Hyrule got any luck.”

* * *

Sky and Hyrule awaited their return, their somber looks already telling of the news from a glance.

“So, no Legend.” Twilight said. The shaking of his companions’ heads confirmed it.

“Nothing,” Hyrule said. “We couldn’t find anything.”

“Maybe we’re looking the wrong way,” Warriors said. “Let’s go back to camp and do a more thorough search.”

“I’ll go find Wolfie,” Twilight added, not meeting anyone’s glance. “Maybe a scent trail will help.”

“Want us to help you find him?”

“No. Go back to camp and tell the others.”

Twilight was about to walk deeper into the woods when Warriors’s hand grabbed him. “You don’t have to go search for him alone.”

“I have to.” Twilight faced Warriors. “I can’t say why, but Wolfie doesn’t like appearing when others are around. He’ll only appear when I’m alone.”

Warriors narrowed his good eye, taking a moment to look through Twilight’s expression before nodding. “Promise you’ll be back at camp when you’re done. I don’t want anyone else disappearing, understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

Twilight parted his way from the others, pushing himself deep enough so that he could transform into the shadow beast once again. Once in his wolf form, Twilight rushed back to camp, heightening his senses under a darkening black cloud in his vision.

But before he could reach the campsite, a pink scent cloud caught his nostril, right at the edge of his vision. Twilight approached it, noticing a displaced ring on the ground.

Not just any random ring. It held the scent of a very familiar hoarder and wearer of rings. _Legend?_ It’s not like him to discard a ring like that.

The wolf took his time to bury the ring in the spot, so that no one would disturb it in case the veteran wanted it back. With the scent now registered through his mind Twilight could see the trail leading away from the camp and followed it.

He barked. _I will find you, Legend!_

Twilight ran off like wind—rushing through the bushes as his mind flashed the worst of his comrade. He shook his head. _No no. He’s a veteran. He’s gotta be okay._

The scent trail seemed... confused. Twilight found a lingering cloud of Legend’s scent by a stump, implying he had rested here before setting off towards a new direction. And his worries settled in as the trail on the new path wavered and strayed off from a linear walk, as if Legend no longer marched on with purpose.

He’d been wandering. And with his remarks towards both Hyrule and Wild about getting lost, that wasn’t like him.

 _Had Legend gotten himself lost?_ He continued following the trail, double-checking whenever the scent spiraled for backtracking. Last thing he needed is backtracking himself and getting lost in the process... especially since the scent was buried under others. Still, he followed. No one else could do it.

After a long travel, Twilight stopped shortly by the end of the scent trail, covered in a huge cloud outlining Legend sitting on the ground, covered by some sort of long fabric.

Yet... when Twilight’s senses returned to normal, nothing showed there but a long shadow of his figure. _Magic._ Twilight growled. _That’s why we couldn’t find you._

Back with his senses on, Twilight barked, alerting the veteran. Legend jumped in response, drawing his sword and pointed at the wolf.

“W-wolf?” Legend slurred,his voice heavy and thick as if he’d been crying recently. “G-go away. I don’t need you. I-I don’t need anyone.”

Twilight whined.

The wolf sat beside him, watching as Legend took out a bottle and drank its contents under the cloak. “I don’t know how you can see me,” he said, putting the bottle away in his pouch. “I’m just glad you can’t talk—don’t need the others.”

Twilight stared in silence. A sniff or two escaped from the veteran’s mouth. _He’s crying._ Twilight wanted to transform right there and then, offer the warmest hug he could offer to his brother. But he couldn’t—knowing that Legend would stab through him if he tried, secrets aside. And it crushed his heart to know that those shed tears were caused by his own outburst.

_It’s my fault._

Twilight lowered to the ground, laying his head down. He kept watching Legend, offering his company even as silence built a barrier between them.

Then a low whisper shattered the barrier: “I had lost people too, you know?”

Twilight’s ears perked at the somber words spoken from the veteran.

“To think he had the _nerve_ to scream his heart out at everyone when we all lost _something!”_ His voice cracked, but he pressed on even as his words shattered in his breaths. “I wish I could disappear sometimes. What kind of hero destroys the very things he tries to save?”

An overwhelming silence weighed upon the wolf-shaped hero, with the veteran’s words repeating in his mind. _Destroy,_ did that word stand out like a shattered mirror, leaving him speechless as if there hadn’t a barrier of forms between them.

A sigh. Legend took off his cloak—his cape, and set it aside. “I need to save some energy,” he said to Twilight, answering a question he never had. “Can you warn me if others are coming?”

The wolf remained silent. His sharp eyes noted the creasing lines that ran through Legend’s reddened face and the dark, deep bags under heavy eyes, now exposed to the world around them. _Weak_. Legend would sometimes taunt the others should a tear fall beneath their eyes for minor things—like when the captain flirted only to be rejected—but reserved himself when it came to major and troubling outbursts.

Legend had his Midna—whoever they may be.

So he barked.Y _ou deserve to keep your secret hidden,_ Twilight thought.

Legend blinked. Nodding before staring off into space again. His head above his hands and knees. He breathed, but spoke no more words ever since, even as Twilight kept watching him, guarding him with every fabric of his being. He shifted, taking out an oval-shaped item and held it in his hand: an ocarina.

And Legend began to play.

Twilight hadn’t been expecting this. The soft, mellowed notes of the instrument laid in contrast to the usual harshness of his snarky voice—wait... He’d recognized the song.

 _That was you._ Twilight gasped. _You'd sung this song last night._

Legend continued on, as if the world around him drifted away into nonexistence. Tears broke through his shielded eyes but fought on despite it. It was as if the world needed to hear this song... his sorrow. With Twilight as his witness.


End file.
